The Second Book Of Samuel. Day 88, David Builds An Altar At The Future Temple Site, Part One

In Wednesday's study David saw the angel of death standing at the threshing floor that belonged to Araunah the Jebusite with his hand outstretched toward Jerusalem "to destroy" it, as the author phrased it. Whether that means the angel intended to cause the plague to fall upon Jerusalem with the same severity as it fell on other cities or whether the plague was meant to be more severe in Jerusalem, we do not know. But it was at this point that the Lord said to the angel, "Enough! Withdraw your hand." It was around this time that David prayed for the Lord to take his life in place of anyone else's because, as he stated, "I have sinned; I, the shepherd, have done wrong. These are but sheep."

In recent times our culture has unfortunately begun using the word "sheep" to indicate persons who don't want to think for themselves, who are meek, who aren't very bright, and who always follow the crowd. This is a shame because in the Bible the Lord---the Good Shepherd---uses the word "sheep" as a loving term to represent those who are under His protection and care. David uses the word in the same way when he refers to his subjects as "sheep". These people are under his care. He is responsible for them. As their leader he has a duty to set a godly example for them and he made a mistake in numbering all the fighting men of the nation. Even if some of them are wayward and stubborn where his authority and the Lord's authority are concerned, his waywardness and stubbornness are more grievous because he is the king. He is in the public eye where his every move is known, whether it's good or bad. This means he is in a position to guide the people either in the right direction or in the wrong direction. That is why he offers himself in their place. He knows that, as the king, he bears an enormous amount of responsibility to live in a way that draws people closer to the Lord. In making a big and public mistake, he's run the risk of causing people to drift from the Lord because they could say, "The king gets away with sinning! Why can't I?" 

It is not the Lord's will to take David out of this life at this point in time. But He stays the death angel's hand and sends the prophet Gad to speak to David again. "On that day Gad went to David and said to him, 'Go up and build an altar to the Lord on the threshing floor of Araunah the Jebusite.' So David went up, as the Lord had commanded through Gad. When Araunah looked and saw the king and his officials coming toward him, he went out and bowed down before the king with his face to the ground. Araunah said, 'Why has my lord the king come to his servant?' 'To buy your threshing floor,' David answered, 'so I can build an altar to the Lord, that the plague on the people may be stopped.'" (2 Samuel 24:18-21) The plague is not currently taking anyone's life but the building of the altar will commemorate the cessation of the plague. It will symbolize that the discipline for David's disobedience (which may also have been discipline upon those who rebelled against the Lord by following Absalom and upon those who rebelled against the Lord by following Sheba) is completed.

Araunah is a Jebusite and the Jebusites, as we learned in the book of Joshua, were a pagan tribe of the land of Canaan. They inhabited Jerusalem and the surrounding area in Joshua's day; Jerusalem was known as "Jebus" in the time of Joshua. The Jebusites were among those the Israelites were commanded to drive from the land but the author of the book of Joshua said that they "could not dislodge the Jebusites, who were living in Jerusalem; to this day the Jebusites live there with the people of Judah". (Joshua 15:63) While studying the book of Joshua we discussed the possible reasons why the Israelites did not fully drive out those they were commanded to drive out, so we will not get into that subject again in today's study. In many cases the Israelites made the various peoples of Canaan their subjects rather than making an end of them and it's likely that many of them converted to the God of Israel. I believe Araunah is probably a convert to the God of Israel because of the way he speaks so respectfully of Him in this next segment and because of the way his words display his knowledge of how sacrifices for atonement are to be carried out. "Araunah said to David, 'Let my lord the king take whatever he wishes and offer it up. Here are oxen for the burnt offering, and here are threshing sledges and ox yokes for the wood. Your Majesty, Araunah gives all this to the king.' Araunah also said, 'May the Lord your God accept you.'" (2 Samuel 24:22-23) 

Araunah wants to give the land, the oxen, and the wood to David. He doesn't want payment for any of it. But David won't dedicate anything to the Lord that cost him nothing. This would be the opposite of a sacrifice. A sacrifice must cost something. It must be a giving up of something. It must cause loss to the giver. "But the king replied to Araunah, 'No, I insist on paying you for it. I will not sacrifice to the Lord my God burnt offerings that cost me nothing.'" (2 Samuel 24:24a) 

In tomorrow's passage we'll study this land transaction in more detail by looking at the remainder of Chapter 24 and by looking at other passages in the Bible that provide us with more information regarding the site that will become the location of the first temple.